I Like Taoist and Zen Philosophy Stories of Experiences

I believe it was D.T. Suzuki who once said (and I'm paraphrasing here): "The only thing you need to know in order to experience zen is to keep a straight back." Because all of the philosophy aside, if you're hunched over and you cannot...

What upsets us most is not the pain or difficulty we see throughout life, it is the likelihood of it happening, it is the inability to predict the likelihood too. We worry about the future because we cannot always accurately predict it...

In Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now”
Tolle states the Buddha defined enlightenment as; “The end of suffering”He purposefully tells us only what enlightenment is not:
 No suffering.
 He uses a negative definition so that...

There's a reason why people talk about the ego and why it doesn't exist. There's a reason why people on here love to come onto EP, why people love being out in nature, why the Dalai Lama is so happy, why all religions speak of...

“Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way) is the classic manual on the art of living. In 81 short, poetic chapters, the book looks at the basic predicament of being alive and teaches how to work for the good with the effortless...

EP Sangha member anya1212 commented on my story “The Blossom Pales in Comparison” with:Is our questioning affected by our past experiences and beliefs. Do we question without reasoning or analyzing the immediate situation. Does this...

In my pursuit of further understanding and reduction of suffering I have studied and practiced mindfulness as much as possible on my own over the past year. The Buddha advocated that one should establish mindfulness in one's day-to-day...

Life isn't a journey per say. It's like a dance, where the point of the dance is not to reach to one place on the floor to another. It's about enjoying the dance while it lasts. Same thing with music, the point isn't to wait for 4...

The master Bankei’s talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras nor indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead his words were spoken directly from his heart to the...

“When we start expecting things to stay the same we fill our wagons with suffering.”
 
Once we feel secure in our general understanding, to challenge that understanding is a step toward the unknown; a step away from our sense of...

It seems a simple question at first glance. Most would simply reply to the question by stating their name.  But if that's who you are, then who were you before that name was given to you?  Or, if you prefer, what were you?  The most...

Gandhi once said: If you don't find God in the next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking for him further. My thoughts are that in any tradition, we all represent or are a manifestation of God without being God.  Something...

I always feel that it is somewhat futile to articulate in words things which should be lived and experienced. But I feel so alive and enriched with what I have been feeling lately that I cannot help myself.
I am realising more and more...

Recently I have been reading a lot of Sufi poetry. I find Sufism elegant and beautiful, and also very aligned with the essentials of Eastern thought. There is a unique kind of joy that comes from finding the parallel truths of different...

I used to think that people like the Amish or Zen monks who have opted out of the modern 21st century lifestyle were either lazy or psychologically weak. My thinking has since evolved.Abandoning a sinking ship and calming rowing to...

While we lay in bed at night, waiting to fall asleep, we could easily spend what could be the best 5 minutes of the day.
I wrote the following breathing exercise to help sleep uninterrupted from bad dreams, stress, anxiety or tension...

In all honesty, the majority of my thinking space is cluttered with daydreams, inanities, flights of fancy into the future and reinterpretations of the past. This is my internal reality most of the time. And most of the time I navigate...

Or rather, losing what little was there to begin with. I was raised in a traditional Christian Anglican way, church every Sunday and bible stories at bedtime. I memorized all the prayers, sang all the songs, acted in Christmas plays...

Transiting Says: You need to be more flexible with your way of thinking Tip: Westerners blah blah blah blah while easteners tend to blah blah blah.
Well I thought about it and gave it some thought.
looked up a 'flexible' Philosophy...

I checked the number on the incoming call vibrating in my hand. It was a call I was required, by law, to answer twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.I practice walking meditation and breathing exercises around an old historic State...